Galaxy Notebook: Birchall looking to fill in, HDC at limited capacity and more

CARSON, Calif. – Depth all over the field has been one of cornerstones to the Los Angeles Galaxy's success this season, and if they are to advance past the New York Red Bulls in Thursday's Western Conference semifinal second leg, they will need their bench to be decisive yet again.

A red card to Brazilian midfielder Juninho in a post-game scuffle after the first leg will cost the Galaxy one of their key contributors for Thursday's second leg against the Red Bulls. Chris Birchall appears the most likely to fill in for Juninho as the Galaxy hope to hold their 1-0 aggregate lead against New York, but he is not the only possibility.

"We have plenty of options, we'll make that decision by Thursday," said head coach Bruce Arena on Wednesday. "Birchall is an option, and we have three or four guys that we're considering. He's an experienced player that has played a number of games and he and David [Beckham] have played a number of games together."

Other options for the role include offensive-minded midfielders Michael Stephens and Paolo Cardozo, who have each seen time in Juninho's stead this season.

"Losing Juninho, there's only a couple of choices, and I haven't been told for definite if it's going to be the case, but I'm hoping so," said Birchall. "It'd be a nice game to step into, but anyone that steps in is going to do a good job, because that's the kind of squad that we've got."

HOME DEPOT CENTER AT LIMITED CAPACITY

The Galaxy will play their biggest game of the season in front of limited capacity due to a long-standing agreement between the Home Depot Center and Cal-State Dominguez Hills, but it was nearly much worse.

On Wednesday, the Galaxy announced that they would increase capacity from 15,000 as initially planned to 20,000 due to an agreement toreduce congestion for the university's mid-week classes. The Galaxy will also be offering parking from nearby locations and complimentary shuttles to offset the reduction from the Home Depot Center's normal 27,000 capacity.

This will mark the second time this year that the Galaxy will have played in front of a reduced crowd, as the club defeated Morelia, 2-1, in a pivotal CONCACAF Champions League match last month under the same circumstances. Should the Galaxy advance to the Western Conference final, the capacity would be returned to normal for Sunday's match-up.

SAUNDERS HOPING FOR MORE SUCCESS

Josh Saunders will be hard-pressed to duplicate his performance from Sunday, but for the Galaxy to advance to the Western Conference Final, he just might need to.

Having spent much of the season filling in for the injured Donovan Ricketts, Saunders was awarded with the start over a healthy Ricketts and made a lasting impact. Saunders made five saves, none bigger than a point-blank denial of Joel Lindpere's chance in the second half, preserving the result for the Galaxy. Although Saunders was decisive last week, he knows that there is still much work to be done.

"It's halftime right now, we still have one game to go and hopefully that we can build as a group and build off it myself as well," said Saunders. "The coaching staff has been preparing me for moments like this, and in the last couple years I've had to come in difficult circumstances and that's only made me a better player."

… one NY-LA game postponed by a hurricane, which caused MLS to lose a prime-time ESPN slot on an NFL-free Sunday night …

… one NY-LA game (makeup for the hurricane match) marred by the absence of Donovan and Keane …

… one NY-LA game with a pitch ruined by snow and bulldozers, a light crowd, stuck in the middle of a Sunday afternoon against 20 gazillion NFL games …

… and now a NY-LA game in a glorious prime-time spot with emotions high and everything on the line — and a stupid rule that will leave the stadium half-empty.

Will MLS ever get a break with its marquee match-up? This is what these DPs are here for, yet we never get to take full advantage of it. We always get cursed by some crappy luck, and the league doesn’t get to put on its best show.

(I will grant that the first NY-LA game of the season, back in the spring, had all the right ingredients going for it, and sure enough it became a phenomenal showcase for the league. But that’s what MLS needs out of this match-up EVERY time, not just once in a blue moon. Instead we keep getting hexed by these bizarre twists of fate that put a crimp in the whole thing. I’m mad at the universe about this.)

Or at least have them use a different facility for these important games. Play at the Rose Bowl or the Coliseum or anywhere that’ll let you seat more than 15k fans. I know this probably won’t be a popular thing to say, but I don’t care if there is football striping on the field, I’d rather have more than 15k fans for a playoff game.

“maybe it’stime they realize there are other matches that are more marquee”

Except that, like, there aren’t.

There may be BETTER match-ups on a sheer soccer level (and I’d certainly argue there are), but in 2011 there is none more important or high-profile for the league than Galaxy-Red Bulls. I’m not sure that’s really arguable, to be honest.

yes it does its keane beckham donovan henry marquez thats what people are attracted too unfortunately mls didnt realize that these two need to be in mls cup for a huge ratings boost not just playing in the semifinals nobody wants to c real salt lake vs dynamo in mls cup or union vs sounders cmon what a bore

It depends on whether people tune in to see teams or individual players. It appears from TV ratings that tube-watchers tune in for individual players. But it also appears that fans in the stands show up for teams. That would explain why Chivas USA and NYRB have trouble selling out their stadiums. The Galaxy were a quality team long before the celebrities showed up and the real fans, the ones that show up at the HDC are there for the Galaxy and not the celebrities.

NJRB got 22,500 fans on a football sunday. La now can only have 20,000 b/c of regulations, advantage NJRB!! Cant wait for this game, there is no bigger match, sorry to break it 2 u. If you follow MLS how can u not be amped for this game. Its the MLS version of El Clasico lol

MLS is changing the paradigm, and yet we’re trying to force this round peg into the same damn square hole.

This is all so much the tail trying to wag the dog.

Geography and expense account do not entitle you to quality, only empty hype. Let the quality of the play dictate who the marquee matchup is. Until now there has been nothing remarkable about this series, except for the fact that Beckham manages to run around like he’s a 19 year old… PHL HOU had more pyrotechnics, RSL SEA had prettier football and KC COL has the feel good story.

I doubt they would fill HDC with 27,000 on a Thursday night anyway. There were a lot of “sellouts” at the HDC that looked like 5,000-10,000 never bothered leaving the concession stands for their seats.

dude, the article plainly states they increased it from 15K to 20K. there are only 7K seats left. while i agree, they should be allowed to sell out a massive playoff game, it’s not like it’s going to be half empty.

Cardozo should get the start. but Becks would have to do a lot more defensive work.

As for the whole capacity thing, I think it’s annoying the contract doesn’t have an exception given the circumstances. But it sounds like they’re making it work. 20K out of 27K isn’t too bad considering they are only supposed to have 7K (e.g. Morelia game).